JoyceLynette's Profile

My color palette, both in decoration and fashion, is composed mostly of greys, black and creamy whites. I throw in the occasional pop of grass green, (on my person it's my umbrella or necklace, in my house it's the plant life).

While I don't mind my home looking "masculine" - I have resigned myself to using that as one of the tags when discussing my style or looking through catalogues, etc. - I think one way to diminish that impression is to work with curved lines rather than straight edges and corners. (Imagine the Apt. Therapy logo in your favorite shade of grey. Now imagine it with corners rather than curves. The spiky one seems more masculine, and the usual one seems more feminine even if their coloring is identical. The same might work with a room.) Curved lines will make it appear softer without sacrificing the colors you like.

Patterns might do some similar work for you, if you stay away from stripes since they get labelled masculine quite often and go for polka dots, swirls or florals. Another possibility would be to aim not for "feminine" but for a different aesthetic altogether. Try for "artsy", or "rococo", (or "punk glam") in the colors you like and make you space that thing instead of girlish.

If I was going to get really carried away, I'd say that your wall art should be stuff like black and white photos of Marilyn Monroe or Audrey Hepburn or Ani DiFranco or Michele Obama, whichever sort of power woman you want. But I think a less generic way to go about that is to pick out images that you like and trust that they're going to express you in the space rather than trying to tailor it to some of idea of girly.

Lastly, accessories: flowers (white ones, or light blue, colors that work with the space), plant life, knit blankets, etc.; in other words, soft things. Also/or shoes, jewelry, coats. If you can do (tidy) storage out in the open then your stuff will add feminine touches of you to the space without having to buy more stuff and, since it's yours, you'll know it's not too cutesy.